This study evaluates predictive models used by fire investigators.
This study developed a novel experimental dataset to address three distinct fire model validation spaces relevant to fire investigation: spatially and temporally varying fire exposures to walls, heat transfer within and thermal degradation of fire-exposed walls, and fire damage patterns arising on fire-exposed walls. This was achieved by conducting of a series of experiments in which free-standing walls were exposed to several types of well-controlled fires, including: a gas burner, liquid fuels, wood cribs, and furnishings. The results of this work will be used in future validation studies to advance the state of the art in the use of fire modelling to support fire investigation. Predictive models are employed by fire investigators, and it is critical that exposure conditions and physical phenomena such as material degradation are properly represented to ensure accurate predictions.